While most of the time we focus on the advantages of being American, the reality is that many of the things we take for granted actually put us at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding how the rest of the world truly works. As Americans we often assume that all of the rights, privileges, programs, and supports that we enjoy are also enjoyed elsewhere. The truth could not be further from that reality.
For much of the rest of the world, life is a very cold and uncaring place. If you have, you are fine. If you have not, it is your problem. In many countries, if you are not a contributing member of society, you will perish. The kinds of safety nets that many Americans count on simply do not exist elsewhere. Why do you think so many people from other countries want to come to America?
Americans today get outraged at almost anything and everything. There is outrage when criminals who are being forced to face the consequences of their actions complain that their prison conditions are deplorable. People express sympathy because the television is not large enough, or there is no access to a cell phone, or the air conditioning is broken, or the food quality is not good enough.
I lived abroad and I know for a fact that in some countries, when you are incarcerated, you are taken to what amounts to a giant holding cell where everyone is placed together. It does not matter if you are a petty shoplifter or a mass murderer who killed twenty people. You all end up in the same room, with very little oversight by jailers. One of the other disturbing facts is that in some of these countries, if you do not have family to bring you food, you will literally starve to death. The state does not feed prisoners. This is not rare. Nations such as Venezuela, Jamaica, Cuba, and the Central African Republic still make the feeding of incarcerated individuals the responsibility of their families rather than the government, a reality that few Americans could even imagine.
When the advantages you have shape your worldview and your way of thinking, those same advantages can quickly become disadvantages when compared with the rest of the world. The problem with thinking that the rest of the world is on a level playing field with America is that it creates a false sense of reality. Thinking this way tends to make a person forget just how privileged they really are. This often does not fit the narratives within America that are shaped in a way to make people believe that only certain groups in America have privilege. While the idea of “White Privilege” has become a favorite talking point in the mainstream media, the truth is that, compared to the rest of the world, almost every person in America enjoys what should be called “American Privilege”, and that is a fact.
The reality is that even the poorest people in America are often far better off than the vast majority of the rest of the world. That is a harsh truth, but it remains a truth nonetheless. People in America should recognize how good we have it and appreciate what we have, rather than using our advantages as an excuse to criticize our country. I truly beleive that one of the biggest problems for many Americans is a lack of understanding of the real world. Sheltered views running though so many minds, thinking that America is so terrible and unfair. That can only happen when you really don’t know what terrible and unfair looks like. If a person lives abroad and experiences life in an under developed country, even for a short period of time, what they often bring back with them is a new perspective on the world. I’ve had that very experience, which is why I know that the United States of America is one of the greatest nations ever to exist, which is exactly why so many people risk everything to come here.
One way to clearly see this difference is by looking at how nations provide for their low-income and elderly citizens. The World Bank’s ASPIRE database tracks about sixty countries that have measurable, government-run social welfare programs. With roughly one hundred ninety-five recognized countries in the world, that means only about thirty percent of all nations have formal state-administered welfare systems. The remaining seventy percent either have no such programs at all or have systems so small or inconsistent that they are not even included in the global data.
In those other countries, the poor and the elderly often rely on their families, on local communities, on religious institutions, or on non-governmental organizations. The government does not step in to guarantee food, shelter, or medical care. Many of these programs are funded not by those countries themselves, but by foreign donors and NGOs. And this is where another uncomfortable truth appears.
A large portion of those NGOs receive funding from the United States taxpayer. In other words, American taxpayers are paying to support the people of other countries while our own citizens still struggle. According to data from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States distributed about 43.8 billion dollars in foreign aid in fiscal year 2023, accounting for roughly three out of every five dollars of American foreign assistance. A Congressional Research Service report shows that from 2013 to 2022, about 82.7 percent of USAID’s foreign assistance implemented through NGOs went to U.S.-based organizations that operate overseas. The funding comes from American taxpayers, yet the benefit often goes to people outside of America’s borders.
Really think about what that means. American taxpayers are being forced to shoulder the burden of supporting people in nations whose own governments refuse to take care of them. That is not compassion, it is the exploitation of American generosity. This is not an American problem to fix; it is one that those nations must confront and solve within their own borders. No amount of foreign aid can replace accountability or leadership. Asking for help is not a solution, it is only a temporary pause in a problem that will never end until those countries take responsibility for their own people.
In my opinion, if there is even one homeless veteran in this country, or one hungry child in this country, not a single penny should go anywhere else until those needs are met. That is not selfish or uncaring. It is a matter of national self-preservation. A country that fails to take care of its own citizens while funding programs abroad is a country that has lost its sense of priority. I care deeply for my neighbors, but my first priority is to my household, and that is how America should prioritize its citizens. Citizens first, the rest of the world after.
If America is to remain the shining example that the rest of the world looks to, then it must first remember what made it shine in the first place. Charity that begins everywhere else and ends nowhere near home is not virtue, it is vanity. The strength of a nation is not measured by how far it can throw its generosity, but by how deeply it can care for its own people. When we allow our veterans to sleep on sidewalks, our children to go hungry, and our citizens to be crushed by poverty while sending billions overseas, we are not showing compassion, we are showing confusion. America cannot lead the world if it forgets to stand on its own feet.
Before we save the world, we must save ourselves.
